Behind the blazing start by reigning all-state guard Tyeisha Juhan, the Lady Lions jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. The sophomore from Jonesboro, Georgia, scored the team's first nine points of the game en route to posting a 12-point opening quarter by hitting her first five shots from the field. Despite Juhan's first-quarter efforts, Northwest nabbed a 20-18 lead after one period on Emily Bush's 3-pointer.
Following three ties to open the second quarter, EMCC scored seven unanswered points to take a 31-24 lead. After the margin grew to 13 points (40-27) on Kyla Temple's 3 pointer, the Lady Lions held a nine-point (40-31) halftime advantage behind Juhan's 19 first-half points.
EMCC mounted its largest lead of the game (47-33) two minutes into the second stanza, but a subsequent 12-2 Northwest run cut the deficit to four points. The Lady Rangers made it a two-point game (56-54) later in the period before Kaisah Lucky's back-to-back buckets helped EMCC gain a 60-55 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
After the visitors came to within three points (62-59) early in the third quarter, Lucky again stepped up for EMCC with a pull-up jumper followed by a three-point play on a put-back basket to extend the margin to eight points. From there, the Lady Lions held a comfortable lead for the remainder of the contest on their way to handing the Lady Rangers just their second division loss of the year and snapping their five-game winning streak.
Improving to 9-7 overall and 4-3 within the division, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions were led by Juhan's game-high 24 points while adding 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year. Kayla Rogers, from Columbus, also recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field in addition to grabbing 14 rebounds. Lucky scored all of her 16 points in the second half, while freshman Emily Evans chipped in with a season-best 11 points for the winners.
Falling to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in the division, the Lady Rangers were paced by Chrissah Shaw and Ciara Pettis with 19 and 13 points, respectively.
David Rosinski | Sports Information Director
East Mississippi Community College